UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State will serve as the host site for Sitting Volleyball exhibition matches on Saturday, Feb. 25. Members of the Army Wounded Warriors sitting volleyball team, as well as athletes from Penn State Ability Athletics and the Penn State women’s volleyball team will participate in the exhibition matches. The matches are scheduled to begin immediately following the Penn State men’s volleyball match vs. George Mason scheduled for 5 p.m. on Saturday evening.
"We are very excited to be hosting the Army sitting volleyball team here at Penn State as they prepare for the Warrior Games," said head coach Mark Pavlik. "We are proud to be associated with the armed forces and this is our way of saying thank you for their time and sacrifices. We are also appreciative of Teri Jordan’s efforts with the Ability Athletics program here at Penn State and glad she was able to assist in the arranging of this event. I hope our fans will stick around after our match to enjoy the sitting discipline of volleyball."
Prior to the exhibition matches, there will be a free clinic at Penn State’s Intramural Building from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Preliminary candidates for the Sitting Volleyball team will participate in the training clinic. The U.S. Army Sitting Volleyball team coach and the USA Volleyball Sports Coordinator will conduct the training. This weekend’s clinic at Penn State is the third of its kind for the Sitting Volleyball team.
The U.S. Army Sitting Volleyball team is in the midst of training for the third annual Warrior Games, a joint endeavor between the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and the U.S. Department of Defense that is scheduled for April 30-May 5. As many as 200 wounded, ill and injured athletes from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy-Coast Guard, Air Force and Special Operations Command will compete in the spring for gold medals in seven sports at the USOC’s National Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Warrior Games were created as an introduction to Paralympic sports for injured service members and veterans.
The Penn State Ability Athletics program offers multiple sports for adaptive athletes. There are a number of Wounded Warriors who live and train here with the Penn State program. Some of the sports offered include, track & field, wheelchair basketball, swimming and power lifting.